Similar Loesers were issued up to 1688 by different rulers of Brunswick. Some of the later issues are commemorative in character and might have served for presentation purposes. The workmanship of the majority is exquisite. They portray personages real and ideal and ornate coats of arms, in addition to the elaborate mining landscapes shown here. The U. S. National Museum is fortunate in having a number of examples through the generosity of Mr. Paul A. Straub.
For calling my attention to these coins, and for other invaluable assistance, I am indebted to the former curator of the numismatic collections of the U. S. National Museum, the late Stuart Mosher, and to the present curator, Dr. V. Clain-Stefanelli.
[Figure 1] shows an overshot waterwheel driving through Stangenkunsten pumps in three separate shafts, each covered by the typical conical shaft house. It is possible that these shaft houses also cover horse whims used to operate bucket hoists such as that shown in the lower center. A house with three chimneys in the background may be the smelter. The horse over whose head the Deity holds a wreath is a symbol of Luneberg.
For a detailed description of the mechanical equipment of this era we are largely indebted to Agricola. He classifies hauling machines into four types; the ordinary bucket windlass, the piston (suction) pump, the chain of dippers, and the rag and chain pump. Although the first three had been known in antiquity, and the last perhaps a century before his time,[6] their use in mining would appear to date from the mid-14th century or later. His is not an historical account, and one who attempts to compare it with others of contemporary or later times encounters a difficulty in his use of descriptive Latin names rather than the common German names used by most others. English and German editors have interpreted them as follows:[7]
| Latin | English | German |
| bulga | water bucket | Wasserkubel, Kehrrad |
| orbiculis | suction pump | Pumpe |
| situlis | chain of dippers | Kannen (werke), Bulgenkunst[8] |
| machina, quae pilis aquas hauriut | rag and chain pump | Heinzenkunst, Taschenkunst[9] |
Figure 2.—Brunswick Silver 1½ Taler, Ernst August, 1688. (U. S. National Museum, Paul A. Straub coll.; Smithsonian photo 43334-A.)
[Figure 2] shows two shaft-houses covering pumps driven by Stangenkunsten. The source of power, hidden by the curious “log cabin” at the right, was probably a waterwheel. I have not found evidence that the Stangenkunst was used to operate bucket hoists, as appears to be the case here. It will be noticed that the above and below ground portions of these illustrations do not correlate precisely. This coin, like the others, shows miners doing various things familiar from Agricola—divining, digging, carrying, and operating windlasses.
[Figure 3] exhibits the principal advantage of the Stangenkunst, in its utilization to connect a waterwheel located in a valley stream to driven machinery on the mountain some distance above. The lute-playing girl (Lautenspielerin) refers to the Lautental mine. A Stangenkunst ([fig. 7]) existed here as recently as 1930.